This was our first trip out to the river in 2016. We were able to slip away after work in the early afternoon, roughly around 12:02 on Friday. So, early January and we only have a few hours to go fishing before we need to meet the misses for lunch, where are we going to go? Early January and we are having an average Utah winter, unlike last year's winter, where can we actually access the water? With all of these questions looming all of our head we only had one answer...Big Cottonwood Creek.

It's been almost a month since the last time we hit the water, holidays and all. We rigged up and got into the water at our favorite spot. What amazed us, especially after last years winter, was how much snow there was!! Probably a good two and a half feet in the open areas, it's shaping up to be a good Winter. But all of that snow comes with a cost, access is limited and natural destruction. Some of our favorite pockets were completely changed due to the trees that had fallen into the river from all of the snow that they were carrying.

That wasn't going to stop us though. We rigged up our go to rig, stimulator and a hotwire prince nymph about twelve inches behind. It took us a few pockets of water to get our sea legs back and quit spooking fish, the rocks definitely got slicker in the course of a month! Finally we hooked up with an average size Brown and the day got rolling.

Big Cottonwood Canyon is truly beautiful in the Winter. It is the home of two ski resorts and when the mountains are covered in that pristine powder it is easy to see why. We constantly found ourselves stopping and just enjoying the scenery that we found ourselves in. The sound of the low stream gurgling over rocks, the softly falling snow, and the cold crisp air easily stole our breath.

Suddenly we realized that it was 2:00 and time to meet the misses for lunch. Getting out of the river and making the short walk back to the truck, we realized why we enjoyed fly fishing so much. It's not only the thrill of the fight or figuring out how to catch that fish that has been eluding you on multiple trips. More than that, it is the connection to the natural world from which we sprung, it's the chance to get out of your own head. It's the beauty of nature! Check out our gallery for more photos.